The first flight from new airline Bonza has taken off, marking a new chapter in Australian aviation history.
Bonza has pitched itself as a low-cost, ultra-Aussie airline.
The airline is doing things a bit differently.
Rather than buying tickets from a website, Bonza directs customers to download their app and do so there.
If you don’t want to download the app, the only other option is to go to the travel agent.
Where will Bonza Airlines fly?
Bonza has been set up to serve less common routes, usually involving regional airports.
That means, for now, there are no flights going to Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide or Perth.
All flights to Melbourne land at Avalon.
The current routes are:
- Cairns to Rockhampton
- Cairns to Mackay
- Sunshine Coast to Avalon
- Sunshine Coast to Mildura
- Sunshine Coast to Cairns
- Sunshine Coast to Mackay
- Sunshine Coast to Townsville
- Sunshine Coast to Whitsunday Coast
- Sunshine Coast to Coffs Harbour
- Sunshine Coast to Newcastle
- Sunshine Coast to Port Macquarie
- Sunshine Coast to Albury
- Sunshine Coast to Rockhampton
- Townsville to Rockhampton
- Newcastle to Whitsunday Coast
Bonza said flights from its second base at Melbourne Airport will go on sale “in a matter of weeks”.
Flights to and from Tamworth, Toowoomba Wellcamp, Gladstone and Bundaberg are listed as “coming soon”.
Who owns Bonza?
Bonza was founded by Tim Jordan, Lidia Valenzuela and Peter McNally, and Jordan is the CEO.
But the majority stake in the airline is owned by 777 Partners, an investment firm based in Miami, in the US.
What are Bonza Airlines’ prices?
Tickets begin at $49 one-way for shorter flights.
The longer flights cost up to $79.
“We are about travel for the many, not the few,” Jordan told Today.
“We are about visiting friends and relatives and that’s our focus.”
What is Bonza Airlines’ food like?
Bonza says it has an all-Australian menu of food and drinks, which you order and pay for on board.
Like many other low-budget airlines, there are no complimentary in-flight meals.
Bonza does not allow you to view the menu until you are on board.
